Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International Law

Beyond the Nuremberg Legacy

Steven R. Ratner, Jason Abrams, and James Bischoff

Fully updated new edition of this renowned volume, whose subject matter continues to grow in topicality and importance

Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International Law

Beyond the Nuremberg Legacy

Third Edition

Steven R. Ratner, Jason Abrams, and James Bischoff

Description

The fall of dictatorial regimes and the eruption of destructive civil conflicts around the world have led to calls for holding individuals accountable for human rights atrocities. This book offers a comprehensive study of the promise and limitations of international criminal law as a means of enforcing international human rights and humanitarian law. It provides a searching analysis of the principal crimes under the law of nations, such as genocide and crimes against humanity and an appraisal of the most important prosecutorial and other mechanisms developed to bring individuals to justice. After applying their conclusions in a detailed case study, the authors offer a series of compelling conclusions on the prospects for accountability.

This fully
updated new edition also contains expanded coverage of the increasing numbers of international criminal trials including the cases of Bosnia, Serbia, and East Timor. It also explores individual accountability for terrorist acts and accountability for acts undertaken in the name of counter-terrorism policy, and provides expanded coverage of aggression and crimes against peace.

Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International Law

Beyond the Nuremberg Legacy

Third Edition

Steven R. Ratner, Jason Abrams, and James Bischoff

Table of Contents

PART ONE: SUBSTANTIVE LAW 1. Individual Accountability for Human Rights Abuses: Historical and Legal Underpinnings2. Genocide and the Imperfections of Codification3. Crimes Against Humanity and the Inexactitude of Custom4. War Crimes and the Limitations of Accountability for Acts in Armed Conflict5. Other Abuses Incurring Individual Responsibility under International Law6. Expanding and Contracting Culpability: Related Crimes, Defenses, and Other Barriers to CriminalityPART TWO: MECHANISMS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY 7. Mechanisms for Accountability: Framing the Issues8. The Forum of First Resort: National Tribunals9. The Progeny of Nuremberg: The International Criminal Court10. The Progeny of Nuremberg: International
Criminal Tribunals11. Non-Prosecutorial Options: Investigatory Commissions, Civil Suits, and Immigration Measure12. Developing the Case: Comments on Evidence and Judicial AssistancePART THREE: A CASE STUDY: THE ATTROCITIES OF THE KHMER ROUGE 12. Applying the Law13. Engaging the MechanismsPART FOUR: CONCLUSIONS 14. Striving for Justice: The Prospect for Individual AccountabilityAppendices

Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International Law

Beyond the Nuremberg Legacy

Third Edition

Steven R. Ratner, Jason Abrams, and James Bischoff

Author Information

Steven R. Ratner, is Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law SchoolJason S. Abrams, Consultant to the United NationsJames L. Bischoff, Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the United States Department of State

Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International Law

Beyond the Nuremberg Legacy

Third Edition

Steven R. Ratner, Jason Abrams, and James Bischoff

Reviews and Awards

Acclaim for the Previous Edition:
"Ratner and Abrams provide an incisive, knowledgeable, and comprehensive look at the substantive law and legal institutions that inhabit the intersection of international human rights law. The need to hold individuals responsible for abuses of human dignity in war and peace has lately assumed critical importance for the global community. This volume, with its searching appraisal of contemporary doctrinal issues as well as the promises and pitfalls of mechanisms for accountability, is a timely and essential resource for any scholar or practitioner with an interest in these areas of international law."
--Richard J. Goldstone

"A timely and highly valuable contribution to the emerging literature on the subject... An outstanding book that is concise and accessible to a broad audience, yet comprehensive and scholarly. This excellent book provides a thoroughly researched and within which these and other complex issues may be examined. It combines scholarly erudition with a practical sense and thus provides a valuable instrument for the pursuit of international justice. It is indispensable reading for students, practitioners, scholars and others interested in accountability for gross human rights abuses."
--The American Journal of International Law